8x01 Pathways
by october-will
Summary: While staying on the Giles estate in England, the Scoobies adjust to life post-Sunnydale, and begin to realise that their lives are going in different directions.
1. Default Chapter

TEASER

Fade in:

SCENE: EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT

It's night, but this graveyard is lit reasonably well. It's small, and well-kept.

Pan along the graves slowly, as we hear voices getting closer. Eventually, we come across our heroes, sprawled comfortably across a blanket, various plates and containers of food between them. Buffy, Willow and Xander are enjoying a nice, relaxing graveyard picnic.

Xander is laying on his side, head propped up by his hand.

XANDER:

...always raining? I can't wait to find a nice place

somewhere where it isn't raining every two minutes.

Settle down, get married, have those two-point-five kids.

(beat)

Is two-point-five still the statistic?

Willow is sitting cross-legged beside him. Her hair is shorter now.

WILLOW:

(teasing; mock-shock)

Xander, is this the future you're talking about?

'Cos I seem to remember getting a lecture just a couple

of months back about letting things ride out,

not planning too far ahead.

XANDER:

That was before something as unexpected

as our home town collapsing into a giant hole happened.

Now, I tend to like having a plan with some

idea of where I'm going. And a Plan B.

Buffy is looking super-chilled. In fact, she is eating fruit.

BUFFY:

Plan, sman. Pish posh. Pollywaffle.

(beat)

And you can blame that outburst on all the

English people that seem to be here in the mother country.

(shakes head)

But my point is, we can relax. Guys, for over seven years

we faced and defeated any of the nasty

beasties the Hellmouth threw at us.

Thanks to us, the world will soon be a much better place.

Thousand of Slayers --

XANDER:

(interrupting)

Hundreds. Of Slayers.

WILLOW:

Or, just hundred, no plural. Or, less than.

(off Buffy's look)

We've got the girls that survived Sunnydale,

and the others who were previously undetected.

So we haven't found them all yet, but even so,

we'd be lucky to find fifty or sixty Slayers world-wide.

That's all I can feel, anyway...

BUFFY:

I know, I understand all that.

I know you're all Slayer-Detector uber-witch now.

(at this, Willow blushes a little)

But my point is that we can rest a little more easy now.

The weight of the world has been lifted off of our shoulders.

In fact, I'd say if we stopped doing these patrols,

we'd never even have to see another vampire or demon

or any other Hell-beastie for the rest of our lives!

XANDER:

I guess... I think everybody just assumes that

because we were of the Sunnydale Alumni,

we're gonna be come teachers of the new Slayers or whatever.

Especially you, Buffster. To them, you're her.

The Chosen One, the original Vampire Slayer,

who gave them these abilities.

BUFFY:

Nah uh! That would be witchy-Willow.

I just got the idea, and you guys ran with it.

WILLOW:

So you're saying you don't want anything

to do with the Council or the new Slayers?

BUFFY:

No...

(beat)

Well if I didn't, would that be such a big thing?

WILLOW:

No, just curious.

There is a contemplative lull in the conversation.

XANDER:

So Buffy, what are you gonna do with your life then?

BUFFY:

(avoiding)

What about you guys? Xander, you say you wanna

get the heck outta England. You gonna start a construction

company back in sunny Cal?

XANDER:

(head down)

The whole one-eye thing makes the construction gig a little difficult.

(looks up again)

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet. My only skills lie in the

hunting and the killing of various vampires and demons.

Even then, usually with the help of a Slayer.

He smiles at Buffy.

WILLOW:

(teasing)

Oooh, maybe you should be a Watcher.

Giles is doing all that recruitin', I'm sure you

could give him a hand. You could get your very own Slayer

and everything.

XANDER:

And subject myself to a life of stuffyness, tweed and scones?

And also, England?

WILLOW:

The Council has -- well, had -- operatives world-wide.

Once Giles gets some money behind him...

BUFFY:

What about you, Wil? I'm sure we all thought you were

gonna go the way of the Watcher before you went all wicca.

No chance of you dedicating your life to Council?

WILLOW:

(laughs; realises she's serious)

Oh. Well, no, sorry. I can't see myself being the Watcher-type either.

(beat)

My powers have been increasing ever since...

XANDER: The Changing of the Choosing?

Buffy and Willow give him a look, embarrassing Xander.

WILLOW:

(teasing)

Thank you, Andrew.

BUFFY:

I believe it's being officially recorded as 'the Awakening'.

WILLOW:

(sarcastic)

Which is so much better.

(anyway)

Since last May, my powers have been on the uprise,

and you've both seen, I've done a few wacky things

I didn't even mean to.

(beat)

But the good wacky! Not the black-eyed, man-flaying, Dark Willow wacky!

BUFFY:

(grinning)

We got what you meant.

WILLOW:

Besides, I'm helping them little, with the Slayer-detecting.

And the Coven, they're helping me decipher those weird dreams,

while they help me understand myself. But...

I guess that can only go so far. So school, maybe? I mean, eventually.

XANDER:

Good to see the ol' school-adoring Willow still exists.

WILLOW:

So Buffy, again: what about you? Will you and Dawn stay here with Giles?

Or-or the Academy, also an option.

This is obviously a subject Buffy is trying to avoid.

BUFFY:

(hesitates)

Hey, we're out of the much-needed chocolate.

Gives us the energy to slay those unruly vamps.

I should get more from the car.

She stands up.

XANDER:

Buffy --

BUFFY:

I'll just be a sec.

She begins to walk off, as Willow and Xander exchange a look.

We stay on Willow and Xander as Buffy marches offscreen.

XANDER:

Why is it that Giles' always manages to pull off getting

her to admit to her problems, and yet we never can?

WILLOW:

Like that time with Angel and Acathla.

Convinced her by saying he needed to do a binding spell.

XANDER:

(looks slightly confused)

I have no idea what you're talking about,

but I'm gonna guess it was something I missed.

(beat)

Hey, this Watcher thing doesn't sound like such a bad thing,

when you think about it...

The camera pans fairly quickly away from them, along the path to where Buffy is.

She's got the back door of a car open, and is pulling out various food stuff and placing them on the roof of the car.

We see a vampire, in full vamp-mode, creeping up slowly behind her. He looks hungry, and it's clear what his intent is.

Angle on Buffy's face, as she senses him.

Quickly, she spins, eyes narrowed.

Angle on the vampire. He freezes, shocked he's been caught. He doesn't know what to do now.

Buffy stares for a moment, before raising an arm.

The vampire flinches, ready to fight.

Buffy smiles, then waves to him, before turning back to decide on her food.

Angle on the vampire. He is confused. The girl wasn't scared. But she didn't attack, either... He wakes up and realised his opportunity, and steps closer to Buffy.

Buffy's POV: she turns, looking around for the vamp. He's no where to be seen. She smiles again, and turns back to the car.

He's suddenly behind her, and grabs her, his arms wrapped around her so she cannot move her arms.

Close on Buffy's face. She genuinely seemed shocked.

Close on the vamp, as he grabs Buffy's head and tilts it, lowering his head toward her bare neck...

BUFFY:

(screams, then)

Willow!! Xander!!

BLACKOUT

Authors note: I'm having a bit of trouble with the layout, but I'll figure it out. I just wanted to post this to see what kind of feedback I get.


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